Square Enix

2000’s JRPG ‘Summer Of Adventure’ Saw Square At The Height Of Its Powers

Twenty years ago this month Square released Chrono Cross, a big, beautiful mess of a game bursting at the seams with style, atmosphere, and Japanese RPG minutia. But it wasn’t the only major game Square released that summer. The publisher also delivered Threads of Fate and Legend of Mana, two other games that riffed on…

Enjoy This Word Salad About Why Marvel’s Avengers’ Spider-Man Is A PlayStation Exclusive

On Monday, developer Crystal Dynamics announced that Spider-Man will be coming to Marvel’s Avengers sometime next year, but only on PS4 and PS5. Fans were understandably upset. Now, studio co-head Scot Amos has explained the reasoning behind the exclusivity deal. Kinda. Not really. Amos could have just dodged the issue entirely by saying something like…

I Played The Avengers Beta And I’m Not Excited

This past weekend I got a chance to step into the sneakers, armored boots, and severely distressed cut-offs of some of my favorite comic book heroes as part of an early beta event for Marvel’s Avengers. I was hoping my brief time with the game would quell the nagging feeling that it’s little more than…

Final Fantasy XI Is Still Getting New Story Content 18 Years Later

Final Fantasy XI’s producer announced yesterday that the game is getting a new storyline, in an incredibly lovely little August update letter to players. While Square Enix continues to maintain its first MMORPG through regular patches, Final Fantasy XI hasn’t gotten any new story content since 2015’s Rhapsodies of Vana’diel update, which more or less…

During today’s Avengers War Table stream Square Enix announced the first hero to be joining the team after the game launches, Clint “Hawkguy” Barton. From what I’ve read, Hawkguy uses a bow and arrow and may, but probably doesn’t, transform into a hawk.

Two Sega Legends Are Making A 3D Platformer For Square Enix

Today, during the pre-show for Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase event, Sonic The Hedgehog creator Yuji Naka, Sonic and NiGHTS Into Dreams co-creator Naoto Ohshima, and publisher Square Enix announced Balan Wonderworld, a new action-platformer in which costumes unlock unique abilities. The game will contain over 80 costumes, each with their own powers. You’ll use them to…

Square Enix Wants To Release Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2 As Soon As It Can

In April, Square Enix released Final Fantasy VII Remake. While speaking with Weekly Famitsu, the game’s developers revealed that part 2 is currently in production, picking up where the first remake left off. “While we are earnestly working on it [part 2],” co-director Naoki Hamaguchi told Famitsu, “we may make you wait, but please look…

Square Enix is launching a new label for action games called Balan Company. It’s an international development collective for games, moving images, and music. Currently, there is a website, which teases future announcements.

Happy 20th Anniversary To My Favorite Final Fantasy

In 2000, after a pair of PlayStation games that were more science fiction than swords and sorcery, I wanted a Final Fantasy that skewed heavily towards classic fantasy fare. Final Fantasy IX, released on July 7, 2000, in Japan, was exactly the game I was looking for. Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi said Final Fantasy…

The World Ends With You Anime Releases Next Year

Announced this weekend at the digital FunimationCon 2020 event, The World Ends With You The Animation is a new anime launching in 2020 and is based on popular RPG game The World Ends With You. This new anime uses the same art style as the original game, as seen in a newly released trailer. Funimation…

Nier Creator’s Fairy Tale RPG Is So Grim It’s Silly

In SINoALICE, a new mobile RPG for iOS and Android directed by Nier creator Yoko Taro, fairy tale characters brutally murder everyone and everything in order to somehow revive their authors and make their bloodiest wishes come true. At first it’s shocking. Then it’s silly. Little Red Riding Hood just wants to play all day,…

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Will Have A Free-To-Play Version

Today in a new trailer Square Enix announced Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition Lite, which will be free-to-play for the first three dungeons. Lite version will play just like the paid one except players will be locked out of the game’s remaining 10 dungeons unless they purchase the whole thing. Square Enix is calling…

A teaser site for an anime version of The World Ends with You has launched, linking to the upcoming adaptation’s official Twitter. The full reveal is July 3 at Anime Expo Lite. There are no other details at the moment.

Free-to-play RPG Kingdom Hearts Dark Road launches today for iOS and Android devices. Explore Disney-themed worlds while exploring an original Kingdom Hearts tale. Players create their own character and team up with a teenage Xenahort in order to Xenahort all over the damn place.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, announced earlier this week for Japan, is officially getting a Western release this fall. The rhythm game features more than 140 songs spanning the series’ history, and features an all-new Kingdom Hearts story. Look for more info soon on KingdomHearts.com.

Avengers Game Twitter Assembles, Then Deletes Extremely Bad Tweet About Defaced Statue

Today, the official Avengers video game Twitter account posted a short video featuring a monument of Captain America and said that the area around it had been “defaced.” It’s the kind of atrociously poor timing that, itself, deserves some kind of historical monument. Right now, all across the nation, cities and states are making plans…

There’s A Kingdom Hearts Rhythm Game Coming To Consoles This Year

Coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Switch later this year in Japan (no Western release details yet), Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is a rhythm action game featuring music and characters from throughout the long-running RPG series. Square Enix launched the Japanese website for the game today, following a leak of the game’s logo…

Embracing The Beautiful Nonsense Of The Final Fantasy VII Spinoffs

This year has not been great for my mental health. But I recently thought I could just push those vibes away, even just briefly, to dunk on Tetsuya Nomura, the creative visionary of Final Fantasy VII and a man who never met a story he couldn’t convolute. I had plenty of material, because I’ve played…

Game Companies Say They’re Supporting Black Lives Matter, But Few Are Offering Specifics

As protests over the killing of George Floyd by police spread throughout the country last weekend, some of the gaming industry’s biggest companies put out statements in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. But while a few have shared some specifics about what they’re doing to help fight systemic racism, almost none of them…

Final Fantasy XIV Really Doesn’t Want Me Trying It Again For Free

I’m finally ready to get into Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn by playing its free trial but the convoluted way the game handles its player accounts and various editions is making it that almost impossible. Square Enix announced last week that Final Fantasy XIV would be going free for a limited time on on…